Danderma's Blog, page 36

Book Review: Revenge Wears Prada

I still recall the opening chapter of The Devil Wears Prada, where Andy the poor assistant to the fashion editor also sociopath Miranda Priestly was trying to drive Miranda’s Porsche while trying to smoke and figure out how to drive manual gear, ruining her suede Gucci pants. The Devil Wears Prada was an international bestseller and a novel that I really enjoyed reading and I even loved the movie. So, to know that there is a sequel with the name “Revenge Wears Prada” and to actually be lucky enough to have a friend bring it to me from Dubai -haven’t seen it in Kuwait yet-, I was over the moon.

Sadly, not all sequels are created equal. From the very first pages I had a sunken feeling in my heart but I shrugged it off, hoping it would get better. Andy is about to get married, and she finds a note from her mother in law to her son urging him not to marry Andy. Then there is a lot of focus on the note and what it meant and what’s not, a fleeting sighting of Miranda by chance, then suddenly the note issue is resolved without much explanation.

The story was fast paced, too fast paced, and then progresses into babies and nappies and all the hoopla that come with babies. Then at last by the middle of the novel Andy goes to meet Miranda face to face, then there is another encounter, then there is barely anything except a deep betrayal. The book is supposedly about Miranda Priestly’s revenge from Andy but there were no real defined revenge, or a final confrontation between Miranda & Andy considering how Andy quit her job, or barely even a Miranda.

If you are picking up this book thinking there will more glamours fashion, hilarious situations, and unbelievable Miranda moments that would make you want to reach inside the book and strangle her, then you’d be quite disappointed. If you want to keep up with Andy’s life ten years after quitting Miranda’s job and see the brief encounter of her path with Miranda’s with a handful of Miranda sightings and meetings, then do pick it up. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not what you’d except and no way comparable to the Devil Wears Prada. Same characters yes, totally different read. It does pick up in both pace and interest by the middle of the novel, which makes me glad I decided to complete after all, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to pick it up again or wait for it to hit the movie theatre next to me.

O’ de Rose, a Dazzling Boutique in Dubai

Whenever I am in Dubai I make sure to visit Gallery Lafayette’s home section and spend a few hours lost between the quirky merchandise they have on display. One particular section that I adore is a little corner with trendy Arabian and Middle Eastern furniture and home accessories with a modern twist. This past visit I was admiring a tea flask and asking the sales lady if it came in any other colour when she said they might have some in their original store! They have an original store? A big, stand alone, store with more items? How come I’ve never heard about it before, or never been or passed by it? Where? She handed me a card with the address and before you know it I was there with my camera. 

The boutique was established in 2008 by three Lebanese cousins who share a love of art and design and O’ de Rose was their sassy brainchild. The directions to the O’ de Rose boutique were straightforward, house number 999 on Al-Wasl road, right across the street from Choitrams supermarket and a mere few streets away from Burj Al-Arab and Jumeira’s street.

The place was an airy white villa with lovely items displayed in the backyard but it was incredibly hot and in the two seconds it took me to snap those pictures, I was sweating heavily from the heat. I love the colourful makeshift canopy shading the corridor outside.

The moment you step inside two things happen at once: the cool conditioned air engulfs you blissfully, and you are so taken by the amount of beautiful things surrounding you that you stop moving all together. I found my eyes darting from one corner to the other, one item to the next, and until this moment I’m finding little quirky hidden items in the pictures that I couldn’t see before and I’m going oooh I want that!

I recovered a minute later and began running my eyes over the items on display. I recognised some of the items are by well known designers such as Nada Debs, Silsal, and Baraka by Salah Zamani. This pillow, with the Khalty Qmasha opening scene on it stole my heart and made me laugh. I wonder if the designer is Kuwaiti?

Ruqaya o Sebeecha as well! Nice

Whatever you fancy for your home or to accessorise yourself you can find in O’ de Rose! Couches, chairs, pillows, side tables, mirrors, tea cups, clutches, spoons, pillows, paintings, foot rests, plates, trays, vases, coasters, lamps, boxes, shirts, bags, clothes, rings, necklaces, bracelets, you get the picture *exhales*. The collection stretches on from one room filled with wondrous treasures to the other. Even the corridors were busy with pretty items.

Those are the tea and coffee tea flasks that caught my eyes in Gallery Lafayette! How gorgeous are the silver and gold acrylic detailing on them? Look at the tray!

Even the clothing collection available was trendy and different. I so wanted to buy myself an Emarati Batoola, looks gorgeous no?

I did get myself a ring and a gold plated “Enta Omry” bracelet. Enta Omry spells the name of one of Um Kalthoom’s most famous songs. Whenever I wear it girls would squeal and ask me where I got it from. It’s from O’ de Rose and yes you can order it from them and they can ship it to Kuwait, or wherever you want.

It took me ages to walk through the different rooms of the boutique, not because it was very big per say but because I couldn’t get enough. I could pass by the same display three times and each time something new would catch my eyes. I know I will be visiting them again and again. To the owners of O’ de Rose, the three cousins with excellent taste for eye-catching items, I wish to congratulate them on a job well done. O’ de Rose boutique is spectacular and I would move in and live there if I could!

O’ de Rose is located at 999 Al-Wasl Road, Dubai, UAE and they deliver worldwide. For more information or directions you can contact them by calling +(971)-43487990, emailing roses@o-derose.com , visitng their website (link), following them on Twitter (@OdeRoseDubai) or on instagram (@OdeRoseDubai).

Thinking of a Time Capsule Project

I was watching TV yesterday when a group of people in some series decide to dig up a time capsule they buried during their childhood and open it with their children. As the characters on the screen unearthed and opened up their time capsule, I felt a pang of excitement mixed with nostalgia waiting to see what they’d be displaying. Then I wished fervently that I had a time capsule of my own that I’d dig up one day and reminisce about the contents, but of course I never had and I suppose it’s a bit too late. 

It’s no secret that I loved the 80′s, my childhood was happy and the days -and people- were much different than they are now. It wasn’t perfect of course, but to me it was special. I recall one day while playing with my Barbies that I’ve decided to bury the Ken doll I had, I think he was mutilated beyond repair by one of the children, and so I buried him under the swings in the garden of our old house with a note. I recall, vaguely, that the note said something like this “To whomever lives here next and finds Tareq -that was his name- remember that we lived in this house and loved it very much” or something to that effect. That qualifies as a version of a time capsule now, doesn’t it?

Perhaps not, the house was sold indeed in 1997 and we moved to another house, while the original house was torn down and a new house built in it’s place. I still wonder if anyone did find my Ken doll Tareq and if that was the case, would they just toss it away or take a moment to read the loving gibberish of a child from over two decades ago?

In any case, I don’t have a time capsule, no one I know has a time capsule, usually schools bury time capsules abroad and I’m not sure but I think there was one private school graduate in Kuwait who mentioned something about having a time capsule once but I’m not sure but I think I might very well want to have a time capsule of my own. It’s bad enough that I don’t have any yearbooks of my years in the public school system, I only have one lone yearbook with my picture of it when I graduated from Kuwait University.

Now let’s see, what would I put in a time capsule that I’d bury until 2063 if Allah grants us to live until that date? An Apple product for sure, perhaps an iPod or an iPhone chockfull of music and pictures, voice notes and such. Some sort of ring or accessory that is considered fashionable these days, a copy of a book published this year that I read and loved or perhaps that could also be added as an E-Book in the Apple product, something to eat that would age beautifully like balsamic vinegar or honey perhaps, and I’m not really sure what else.

Where to bury it, how to bury it? Do people need a specialised vessel? Who would dig it up? What if whomever digs it up simply throws it away, carelessly? Can we bury something for 150 years instead of 50? Who will be in charge of tracking it dig up date? I’m not sure how it works exactly but why not? Really why not? Perhaps there is an equivalent virtual time capsule thing on the internet where people can store stuff and they can be displayed somewhere in fifty years time? I need to do a bit of Googling on the matter…

Have you ever participated in a time capsule? If so what did you place inside? If not, what would you place inside your very own time capsule?

Lunch at Cafe November in KIPCO Tower

About a year ago I was in the United Tower in Kuwait City for the first time attending the opening of Upper Crust Pizzeria when I saw a sign for “Cafe November”. November can mean one thing and one thing only, that the distinguished November Bakery is opening up a cafe! If you love and admire the November Bakery as much as I do, you’d know how happy I was when I knew just before Ramadan that they were finally open.

When Cafe November first opened they were only serving desserts and promised to start serving savoury items after Eid. I decided to wait, for I know how good their desserts are and I wanted to taste their savouries. Yesterday they announced on Instagram that they started serving their savoury dishes and since they open until 5 P.M. only and I get off work at 3:30 and had to be somewhere in Kuwait City at 4:30 P.M., I decided to have a quick lunch in Cafe November and headed over to United Tower -some call it KIPCO tower, I’m not sure which is more accurate btw-.

Cafe November is cosey and right by the entrance of United Tower with a long display of delicious items and four tables for diners situated by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the KIPCO tower’s lobby. Big mirrors, flickering candles, flowery wallpaper, white curtains, and vases of single pink roses were everywhere! Quite adorable.

I was there for the salads, I asked for something vegetarian and almost every item available was vegetarian friendly! The sweet November owner Bibi Hayat was there and she explained she was a vegetarian herself but diners can ask to add chicken if they wanted to their meals.

I had a hard time deciding on what to have for there were plenty of healthy choices: Asian noodles salad with peanuts and vegetables, Orzo pasta and cherry tomato salad, Wheat Berry, rocket, and chickpeas salad, Zuccini and some red berry with feta cheese and pine nuts salad, plus different sandwiches and quiches.

I finally made my choice, a grilled halloumi ciabatta sandwich and the chickpea, wheat berry, carrots, rocket, and feta salad! As I paid for my order I was handed a complimentary slice of banana cake to take home with me. Yum!

I made my way to the back of the cafe to a table with a bench and pillows and the whole setup was flanked by two very home-y table lamps. It felt like I was dining in my own living room, very cosey and relaxing indeed.

It took mere minutes for my food to arrive along with a complimentary piece of goat cheese, herbs, and zucchini quiche. I’m not a quiche fan at all, but that little slice I had was delicious! I’m having that the next time I’m over there for sure.

My salad which came with extra sauce on the side was gorgeous! Crisp, light, flavoursome, and with every bite I discovered a new ingredient like chopped pistachios for example.

Next the halloumi ciabatta.

It was fresh, bubbling hot and delicious, the portion is quite generous and I could only manage one half of it.

After lunch I couldn’t resist ordering some dessert to go with my takeaway, who can resist November bakery’s cakes?

If you are still not sure which building is the KIPCO or the United Tower is, it’s the one near Al-Raya and Al-Hamra with the different coloured window panes on the facade. A gorgeous building masha2 Allah.

Cafe November is now open everyday except Saturday from 11 A.M. till 5 P.M. only. The location is good and parking is available, the interior is sweet and welcoming, and the food is delicious. They don’t have delivery still but you can pass by for a quick fresh and healthy lunch or a succulent melt in your mouth dessert. They have heavy organic hot chocolate in a small estekana that I’m craving right now. Well done November, wishing you all the best

For more information regarding Cafe November, you can visit the cafe in the ground floor of KIPCO or United Tower, Kuwait City. Check their website (link), or follow them on instagram (@Cafe_November_KIPCO).

 

Lamy’s Perfumes Eid Gift

Just before the Eid holiday I received a lovely Eidiya from the lovely Lamya Al-Farsi, the owner of Lamy’s Perfumes, a local perfume making business. I’ve had the pleasure to meet Lamya a while back in a perfume exhibition where she mixed perfumes from different scents on the spot (post). Lamy’s perfumes are well known for their different and sometimes daring scents, you wouldn’t find any other Kuwaiti perfume maker who would make scents like ice cream or cheesecakes for example.

The eidiya, or the eid gift, was a bag filled with different Lamy’s perfume bottles. There were six of them which was quite generous. Lots of lovely scents to wear!

What perfume scents were they?

Let’s see, there was the violet perfume, flowery and nice.

The lemon perfume, quite fresh for people who like fruity scents.

Pink rose, very lovely and recommended for rose scent fans. I can never get enough, my favourite flowers are white roses by the way.

Queen Lamya, quite different and lovely.

Last but not least, my favourite, the ice cream perfume! Yummy!

Oh and just for old times sake, the Danderma perfume! Yes there is a Danderma perfume by Lamy’s! Here is the story (post).

Thank you dear Lamya and Lamy’s perfumes for the scented eidiya! Wishing you the best of luck and cannot  wait to see what different scents are you coming up with next. 3eedich mbarak o kil 3am o entaw bkhair.

Lamy’s perfumes are sold in the cosmetics section of Al-Rawda Co-op and you can also order them and have them delivered at home. For more information you can contact Lamia Al-Farsi on +(965)-94944043 or follow her on Twitter (@LamyPerfumes) or on instagram (@LamyPerfumes).

The Day I Lost my Ability to Write

Have you ever suffered from a writer’s block so severe, it makes you strain to remember how words go together hand in hand?

I suppose not many would relate to what I’m talking about, but this happened to me. I love words, words are my thing. I could reduce a classroom to tears stringing a few words into sentences that would grab your heart. Many of my friends, blog readers, and followers love Danderma the writer most and believe me I do too, but one day I woke up and I couldn’t, I couldn’t, I simply couldn’t write anymore.

I hope that’s only writer’s block and not signs of dementia or some brain disorder, but my life wasn’t going easily. I lost the ability to sleep, I gained a lot of weight, and my temper was through the roof. I was passing through a storm that I saw no end for, thrashing blindly left and right. Then I slowly resurfaced again and I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about and perhaps you don’t, maybe you don’t even care. I can tell you this though, while I was unable to write like I used to before I took refuge in my camera lens. I used it to express whatever was going through my brain until the day comes and I could let my words free of their unseen shackles. I think the time has come now, I catch myself writing sentences and speaking all the time in my head, silently, absentmindedly, and nostalgically.

All my life, no one ever wanted to listen to what I had to say. I was always invisible, shimmying through the days like a ghost.Then came the day I opened my blog, over five years ago, and people began to stop and read. I am most powerful with my words, losing the ability to summon them was like losing my sword in the middle of a bloody battle. I was distraught, and grief-stricken, but I think I now can pick up from where I left off again, I just need to sort through the jumble that’s inside my head and know what I want to write about. Meanwhile, I will just let my fingers run free, how I love the sound of my fingertip tap dancing on my keyboard.

Revving up, ranting a bit, maybe I won’t make sense maybe I will, but I will have to. What I can’t put down in words I will display through my lens. Thank you, my dear readers, and especially a particular dear reader, for still having faith in me and waiting patiently for my humble words. I wish they’d be able to flow as effortlessly as they did once again.

Yamanote Atelier the First Japanese Cafe in Dubai

On the night before I left for my eid holiday in Dubai my friend Mira whatsapped me about Yamanoti, a newly opened Japanese bakery & cafe in Dubai thinking I’d like to check it out. She was right of course, for the moment I set my eyes on their instagram account I knew I wanted to try it on the first day of Eid and I did manage to do so. 

Yamanote in Dubai is located in Al Wasl Square, a totally new place to me. I’ve never been there before and it was interesting to walk amongst the different shops and restaurants, but it was also quite hot indeed. It is August after all. Yamanote itself is Dubai’s first Japanese cafe and I thought it was a franchise until I read on their instagram account that they are A UAE established boutique Japanese bakery! How cool is that? Yamanote was indeed worth the visit and if you are going to Dubai anytime soon it should be first on your list of breakfast places.

Spacious and inviting, with lots and lots of baked goods on display and a bright interior with white and blue walls, wicker chairs and marble topped tables, and floor to ceiling windows letting the afternoon light stream in.

The hello kitty baked buns are the first thing to capture my attention. After crooning over them for a few seconds, you begin to look around and notice your surroundings. There is a stack of white trays with a group of tongs hanging over it which spells out self service. Reminded me of the Alamiya bakery days back in the 80′s when people actually bothered to serve themselves.

I wasted no time grabbing myself a tray and a pair of tongs and proceeded to make my choices. A little card with the name in English and Japanese was over each baked item. I took my sweet time, going back and forth and trying to decide what I wanted and took plenty of pictures. No one bothered me at all or stood over my head talking and distracting me in the name of trying to help me, I was really grateful for that.

There were two kinds of Hello Kitty baked goodies: one filled with custard creme and one filled with Nutella! There were also owl shaped baked goodies, croissants, and other things that I’ve seen in Japanese anime but never knew the name -or contents- of. I liked that, familiar yet new and strange at the same time.

Plenty of choices, I had the urge to try everything on display!

After choosing what we wanted to eat, we headed to the cash register where a long menu of drinks was posted on the wall. Their service is incredible indeed, they didn’t bother us at all when taking pictures and choosing our food, but the moment we asked for their help choosing something from the drinks menu they were all smiles and very helpful.

I wanted to try this white pudding, the little jars looked so cute and straight out of a Japanese anime but we’ve ordered more than enough. Next time for sure by god’s will.

Yamanote also sells different items like different flavours of tea and lots of dinnerware and accessories.

After placing our order for drinks and paying we took a seat overlooking Al Wasl Road, watching cars passing by.

What did we have? I chose the Nutella filled hello kitty bun, a small baguette-like bread called milky bun filled with what tasted like clotted cream -qaymar-, and the kiri custard croissant.  I was told the Kiri Croissant was their best seller and my eyes popped when I first saw it’s picture on instagram. Mamma mia, does that look good or what?

To drink I had the Yamanote iced matcha latte and we also ordered the Dragon Berry iced tea.

My matcha iced latte was cool and refreshing. Made with ice, espresso, milk, and a green Japanese matcha syrup which I’ve tried for the first time in my life. It was good, with the matcha syrup adding a different weird flavour kick. It was good weird, not bad weird, like sweet green tea. I need to do some research regarding this kriptonyte-green syrup!

The dragon berry iced tea was delicious! Lemon & Ginger Tea, with lemon juice, strawberry syrup, and agave syrup. It was so good I actually stole it from my poor unsuspecting companion and nearly drained it in one long sip.

The pastries and bread we chose were freshly baked and quite good. I liked the Kiri custard croissant the most and loved the fact that it wasn’t overly sweet but thought the hello kitty Nutella bun was too thick for my liking. The service proved their excellence once more by letting us enjoy our meal in peace. No one loomed over us, or peered into our food, or just waltzed all around your table to annoy you, something I’m very thankful for.

It was a very peaceful quite afternoon in a lovely Japanese bakery with adorable and really fresh tasty food. There are plenty of delicious things to go back for and many new flavours to try like the white pudding, the matcha sweet, the matcha scone, the rose croissants, and perhaps one day the bun filled with noodles and topped with ginger. They also have gift boxes where you can bring home a box of pastries with tea powder and tea cups, a gift that would make any Japan-fan extremely happy. I cannot wait to go back again and as they say in Japanese, Yamanote Atelier is kawai for sure.

Yamanote Atelier is located in Al Wasl Square complex overlooking Al Wasl road and right beside Safa Park. For more information you can check their website (link), give them a call on +(971)-43881811, or follow them on Twitter (@YAtelier) or on instagram (@YamanoteAtelier).

The Gelato Marathon

Since the holy month of Ramadan and Eid days are now over I’m trying to get into my normal daily life routine, plus going on a diet to control my appetite after the daily feasts of the past few weeks. I have been doing very good, only my friends who I haven’t been out with in forever were craving gelato and one thing led to another and we found ourselves having a mini gelato marathon in the Avenues.

We had to get it out of our systems, we are all going on a diet next Sunday after all, supposedly. In any case, the gelato marathon took place at Giolitti in the Avenues. I’ve been there before and loved their authentic Italian gelatos made since 1900 (post). They had around 36 different flavours and we wanted to try most of them, we ruled out ones like peppermint and lemon since they sounded so boring but we did try most of everything else.

My cup had ten different flavours that we shared. Among the flavours I recall were the dark chocolate -divine but not for everyone-, hazelnut, cappuccino, vanilla & chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, and peach. There are three more that I cannot remember but we all agreed that both the watermelon and the peach were the best gelato flavours, probably because their are fruits of the season.

We had another ten flavours gelato cup which included flavours like pistachio. Still the watermelon and the peach flavours were the stars of the night. A friend of ours ordered the Strawberry cup, which on it’s own looked heavenly.

The strawberry gelato was oozing out of the cup and onto the side of the cup, and there were swirls of whipped cream topped with fresh strawberries on top. If there is something I cannot resist, it’s the mixture of strawberries & cream and I shamelessly began to steal spoonfuls from my Shaima my friend’s strawberry cup! Can you blame me?

Shaima my friend had a mini jar of Nutella on her and she wasted no time customising the strawberry cup with the contents of the Nutella jar…

Yes, diet will start next Sunday. I don’t think I will be eating ice cream for a year. Err… make that a few months. Only gelato. By the way, they say that gelato is much better than ice cream, that it has less cream than ice cream which means less gelato which means it’s healthier and more diet friendly. Diet starts next Sunday and girls, I had a great time overdosing on gelato in the marathon, you are the best :*

Movie Review: The Wolverine

My favourite X-Men, Wolverine, is finally back in The Wolverine movie. I’ve been waiting to watch it forever and it finally premiered on 15 August in Kuwait. Of all the movies I’ve been waiting for this year, The Wolverine might very well be my favourite. 

Imagine an angry and broody Wolverine, going to Tokyo, fighting off an old enemy, sword fighting with Ninjas and Samurais, a gorgeous new Japanese love interest, and a final fight in the snowy mountains of Japan. Need I say more? I didn’t want the movie to end, it was that good and I loved each and every scene.

Wolverine loses something very dear in the end and it kinda makes me sad -and mad- at the same time. Wait a few minutes after the cast credits start rolling and you will find an amazing X-Men related scene that made me almost jump up and down. If you’ve watched the post-credits X-Men 3 scene you’d understand how the Wolverine scene would be possible. I personally cannot wait for The Wolverine to be added to my X-Men DVD collection and for what seems like a fifth X-Men movie coming out!

Things to Do in Dubai: Dine in Wafi Gourmet

Whenever I am in Dubai I have a last day before boarding the plane ritual. It involves checking out of the hotel, driving to Dubai Mall, ending up our shopping and then grabbing some lunch in Wafi Gourmet before heading to the airport. Wafi Gourmet is a Lebanese restaurant chain in Dubai that sells a lot of Lebanese delicatessen items and is also a restaurant.

Wafi Gourmet used to sell the Lebanese brand goodies items which I love and someone once told me that they are indeed the same as the Goodies brand from Lebanon only in Dubai they are rebranded as Wafi Gourmet but I am not sure to be frank about how accurate is that. What I’m sure of though is that their food is to die for and that I can visit them for all my meals in Dubai and not get enough.

Wafi Gourmet have many branches around Dubai, the original which I used to go to years ago is in Wafi Mall. They used sell me blocks of their halloumi cheese from Shtoora, Lebanon which are the same halloumi used in their excellent saj sandwiches but not anymore. My current favourite branch is the one located in the lower grand level of Dubai Mall overlooking Dubai Fountain.

If I don’t have enough time I only take halloumi and other kinds of saj for takeaway and eat them in the airport. Last time I was in Dubai -this past Sunday- I had an hour before heading to the airport so we sat down for one last good bye meal before picking up some goodies from their gourmet delicatessen section to bring back home. I can’t believe I’ve never posted about them before, but this time I had my camera on me and I decided to take some pictures. The first thing I ordered was their cocktail juice.

In Kuwait cocktail juice means a layer of strawberry juice topped by mango juice and them bananas and milk shake. In Wafi gourmet their cocktail juice has guava and avocado but I asked for my cocktail to be made in the Kuwaiti style.

I can tell you this, I’ve never had a cocktail juice so big or so fresh in my life. Probably the best cocktail juice I’ve ever tasted. Oh and the hubby took a sip and wouldn’t let my juice go!!!

We also ordered their Wafi Hummus, topped with fava beans -bajela- and mixed with parsley. We finished that plate off, so very good.

Ah and their fattoush, my favourite Lebanese salad, looked good and tasted even better. I do have one complaint though, the portion of bread in the fattoush was too little, only the few cubes of bread on top and that was it.

My main dish was the lip smacking halloumi saj sandwiches and the za’atar saj sandwiches. We also took some for takeaway and had them for dinner after we arrived in Kuwait.

My husband ordered their mix grill platter for his main dish. It had a skewer of kebab, a skewer of grilled meat chunks, and a skewer of chicken shish tawooq. According to him, it was excellent. The empty plate was a testament to how good the mix grills platter was.

Now that I’m typing this post I’m thinking of lunch in Wafi Gourmet. The location is excellent, the place is always busy and buzzing with happy diners, the food is succulent, quite tasty and really fresh. The service is great and the value for money is an added bonus. You can also shop for Lebanese gourmet delights after you’re done dining and they’d make joyful souvenirs. I love Wafi Gourmet, I wonder why they don’t open up a branch in Kuwait, their website states they have franchise opportunities! Someone please bring it here and let it open in the Avenues Mall!

For more information regarding Wafi Gourmet you can check their website (link) or dine in their many branches around Dubai. My favourites are the one in Dubai Mall, Festival City, and Wafi Mall.